Blood in the Water
by Ebony Lukana
Summary: Evelyn's served Lady Tawnera for years. But it all changes as she finds that not everything is as it seems. There's the meetings on Hell between Lord Tawnera and his butler. Then there's the strange guests to a sudden gathering, Ciel Phantomhive and his butler Sebastian. Soon enough, she finds that the ones she thinks are on the side of angels are really no better those who aren't
1. Chapter 1

ONE

Evelyn watched as Ricardo paced up and down, inspecting the male servants under his control as well as glancing every other second in the direction of the women. She had no idea why he was doing this- she was actually in charge. Technically, they had exactly the same position in the Tawnera household, but Evelyn's mistress, Lady Tawnera had been born into the family, whereas Lord Tawnera had to marry to earn his reputation and riches. "Okay," Ricardo said, "We have exactly fifteen hours until guests start arriving. Let's not fuck anything up." As he said this, he looked directly in Evelyn's direction. She rolled her eyes and decided to take over from there.

"Over forty guests are going to be coming to this event and if anything goes wrong, then I will find out who to blame," she made a point of glaring at Ricardo, "And I will see that her Ladyship punishes them. Properly." There was a long silence as he bit his lips and clenched his fists. He was annoyed at her, but she could tell that no harm would come to her. If he did, lady Tawnera would become suspicious and…

Evelyn was separated from her thoughts as Ricardo dismissed the servants and she found herself alone. For a moment, she just stood there, before leaving the room and making her way through the women's servant corridor to her mistress' room. It had been three years since things started going wrong between Lord and Lady Tawnera. Apparently, one of them had an affair with someone else and things started going downhill. They started to distrust each other, thinking that they'd fall in love with anyone of the opposite sex. And so, the house was split in two: women on one side and men on the other. Not even servants were allowed to cross into the other side of the house, and so the amount of staff doubled on either side, and male roles had female versions for Lady Tawnera and vice versa. After serving her mistress since she was eight, Evelyn was the suitable choice for one of the highest jobs. So, Evelyn went from being just another serving girl to a butler of all people. Ricardo had become the male butler about six months before her, but she hated him. She was suspicious of how he'd been given his job, how he'd managed to go from being a nobody to top of the household. And then there was how quickly Lord Tawnera had taken to him, how he suddenly favoured his butler more than anyone else, more than his peers, more than his own wife (Though this didn't exactly surprise Evelyn) Overall, she thought that splitting the whole house into two was pathetic and pointless.

As she entered Lady Tawnera's room, she held back a sigh and opened the curtains. It was six am, and she knew that her mistress found it impossible to sleep in daylight. There was a noise from the bed as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "It's today isn't it?" she asked Evelyn, who nodded as she went on, "Why was this dinner even organised?"

Still not saying a word, Evelyn shrugged and helped her put on her corset, underskirts and dress. To be honest, she couldn't really care less. As long as she was able to do her job, she would be fine. However, there was a small part of her that was starting to wonder why this gathering was taking place and something told her that this wasn't being held out of kindness or hospitality. No, there was definitely something wrong and Evelyn was sure to find out what it was, no matter what.

Evelyn was sure that the day passed uneventfully, keeping a close eye on both her servants and those on the men's side of the house. She also kept a close eye on Ricardo, as she had a feeling that he was keeping something from her- from everyone. As the evening drew near, she told several other servants to look after the house while she attended on her mistress. "Why is he even holding this… thing?" she asked as Evelyn pulled her hair into a tight knot, "It isn't like there's any kind of special occasion at the moment…"

Evelyn shrugged, not saying a word. She had been wondering the same thing ever since Lord Tawnera had announced the event two months ago. Almost instantly, he, Ricardo and a few other male servants had been holding meetings in private. Evelyn had often gone to see what they were about, and she'd only ever heard tiny details before she was spotted by Ricardo. For some reasons, this did nothing but fuel her curiosity. All she could ever seem to understand from these sessions of eavesdropping when she should've been working was that these meetings weren't about the dinner- or at least, she hoped they weren't. Death. That was all they spoke about. And when she was caught, the look she received from Ricardo was menacing and seemed to tell her to not eavesdrop again. Even so, she ignored him. She could look after herself and her curiosity became stronger and stronger every day.

It wasn't long until Lady Tawnera was ready, and Evelyn followed her down to the entrance hall. Half of it had been decorated in the traditional style- this was Lord Tawnera's side of the house. The other side was a rich deep purple in colour, and there was silver lights handing from the ceiling. Soon enough, guests started to arrive. Evelyn recognised most of them as Lord Tawnera's business partners, the ones that he was particularly close to. The entrance hall became over-crowded quickly and Evelyn found herself looking away from them and at Ricardo, who stood behind his master on the other side of the room. Her look had a clear meaning: 'Let's go'. But Ricardo shook his head, making a symbol in his hands. The two of them had to come up with a way of communicating when the first became butlers, and Evelyn knew exactly what this meant: 'One more'. She rolled her, eyes, as she had not checked up on the kitchens for a few hours and had no idea if the starters were ready. Even so, she waited.

Soon enough, the final guest arrived. Unlike the others, they were not a partner of Lord Tawnera's. In fact, Evelyn didn't recognise him at all. Lady Tawnera, however, did. "My goodness…" she muttered to herself, as Evelyn followed her over to him, "Is that Vincent's son…? I do believe it is." Suddenly, Evelyn realised who he was: Earl Ciel Phantomhive. She studied him closely. He couldn't have been much older than twelve, for he was short and hadn't seemed to have entered puberty in any way. Behind him stood a man in a suit, probably a butler, with dark hair that framed his face. They both seemed to share the same bored and slightly suspicious expression. She suddenly felt someone's hand on her shoulder. Ricardo.

She turned around silently and began to make her way towards the servant's corridor, but she managed to catch sight of Ricardo as he looked both the boy and his butler in the eye. Then, he too turned and left. Evelyn went into the kitchens on the female side of the house as she heard chatting and laughing coming from the guests. But she couldn't seem to forget Ricardo's glare as she left. Perhaps it was about time she to start looking into his masters little meetings…


	2. Chapter 2

Ciel kept his guard up, suspicious of everything and everyone in the half-traditional-half-gothic building. He didn't speak to anyone after he greeted Lady Tawnera. He vaguely recognised her, probably from a picture, but didn't know her or her family that well. His father had never really spoken about either her or her husband, other than mentioning them once or twice. The Tawneras had no real connection with Elizabeth's family either, so the reason why he had been invited was unclear. He had a good reason to be suspicious.

Ciel had heard of how the house was ran, so he wasn't surprised to find that there was both a male and female butler. He watched as they disappeared into the crowd, before politely greeting Lord Tawnera. After a while, he turned to Sebastian. "Go and speak to one of the butlers here," he said, "something's not right here." Sebastian nodded and bowed.

"Yes, young master."

Sebastian located the servant's corridor with ease, and managed to find the female butler quickly. He followed her into the kitchen and watched as she double-checked her servants. He had to commend her for her efficiency, though he could tell that she was stressed and tired from all the work. After all, she was only a human. It was only when she turned to leave that she noticed him. At first, she just stared at him, her expression halfway between surprised and suspicious. She then carried on walking, though she would look back towards him every couple of seconds, as if to get him to follow her. Ciel had been right: something was definitely wrong with this house.

The female butler re-entered servants' corridor, where she stood and waited for Sebastian. A few maids walked past, and she stayed silent for a few moments as she waited for them to be out of earshot. Finally, she asked, "What the hell are you doing in this side of the house?"

"I take it that the rule applies to servants as well," he muttered in return, more to himself than to her. She rolled her eyes anyway, and after a few moments of silence, she held out a gloved hand and said, "Evelyn Beck."

Naturally, Sebastian didn't trust her, so he shook her hand warily and turned his back on her. "Sebastian," he said, before walking down the servant's corridor. As he expected, Evelyn followed him, constantly looking back towards the kitchen and swearing under her breath. "You're Phantomhive's butler…" she muttered. It wasn't a question, so Sebastian didn't answer.

There was continued silence as the two of them came to a stop in the corridor. "Why are you still here?" she asked him.

"I need to ask you some questions," he replied simply. Evelyn couldn't help but sigh.

"Ask Ricardo..." she started, but her voice trailed off as she remembered the way the two had made eye contact just ten minutes ago. It was unnerving to say the least. "Actually, don't. You're better off not having your questions about this place answered."

He was about to say something else, but Evelyn had clearly had enough. "I have a job," she told him, "And so do you. Please return to your master and at least attempt to stay on the men's side of the house."

There was an icy silence, before Sebastian nodded and left her. Ciel had been correct. There was definitely something wrong with this house, and it was to be his job to find out what. He was about to say something else, but Evelyn had clearly had enough. "I have a job," she told him, "And so do you. Please return to your master and at least attempt to stay on the men's side of the house."

There was an icy silence, before Sebastian nodded and left her. Ciel had been correct. There was definitely something wrong with this house, and it was to be his job to find out what.


	3. Chapter 3

Ciel kept his guard up as he was lead from the main hall through a door to the left. He noticed how the women were forced to go in the opposite direction- another thing that made him suspicious. He was by far the youngest there, and he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sebastian had found the male butler and was now speaking with him. He couldn't hear what either of them were saying, but he was almost certain that Sebastian had found out something: his eyes were slightly narrowed and his fists were starting to clench by his side.

Dinner itself passed rather uneventfully, with a few speeches being made on how happy Lord Tawnera was to see everyone. Ciel kept his head down and avoided contact with most of the men. He knew that even though Lord Tawnera was not of particular high status, his wife was a duchess. Thus, he was of far more importance than Ciel. Before that evening, they'd never met each other. No-one noticed him or spoke to him until dinner had finished. Most of the guests retired to the drawing room where they would smoke and play cards. Ciel decided to wait behind, hesitant to follow. So far, no-one had taken much notice of him, and it looked as if it was going to stay that way.

'What if that's what they want me to think...' He thought to himself, 'they could be ignoring me in order to make me think nothing was wrong. After all, there has to be a reason why I was invited. More to the point, there has to be a reason to everything strange that's happening...' At the thought of Tawnera manor being strange, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He had a demon butler, an inhumanly strong gardener, a chef with pyromania, a maid that owned about ten different guns and a footman who spoke to snakes- and he was calling this place strange. If anything, he was the strange one.

Suddenly, he was separated from his thoughts when he heard a quiet voice from behind him. He turned, to see a young servant-boy standing there. He couldn't have been much older than nine, and he held a small piece of paper in his grubby hands. "Um..." he said, "Are... are you..."

"Earl Phantomhive?" Ciel finished his sentence for him, not wanting to waste any time. The servant nodded and unfolded the piece of paper, squinting at whatever was written on it.

"Um... her ladyship wants to um... speak with..."

"Tell her I'll be there in a few minutes..." he was about to leave when the boy spoke again, this time with more confidence.

"No, she doesn't want to see you," he told him. Ciel sighed. What did he want from him then? "She wants to speak to the man with you."

For a moment, Ciel looked at him, confused. then, he realised that he was talking about Sebastian. His mind began to race. Had Lady Tawnera realised that he knew something was wrong? "He's a servant," Ciel quickly stated, "She wouldn't want to talk to him." The serving boy looked down at his shoes, going bright red. "I...er..." was all he managed, before holding the note out for Ciel to read. Sighing, he did as he wanted, quickly looking at the writing on the note.

 _'Earl Phantomhive,'_ It read, _'I hope you are enjoying your time in my husband's company- even though he only met your father once. As much as I'd like to speak with you, my husband very rarely lets male nobility into the female side of the manor, and so I have no choice but to speak to your butler instead.'_

Ciel tried to work out what the rest of the letter said, but the writing looked messy, like the writer's hand had been shaking at the time. By the time they had finished the note, the handwriting was no more than and scribble. It didn't seem like any harm could come from allowing this, so he nodded and told the serving boy to let her ladyship know Sebastian was coming. He left, and as if on cue, Sebastian entered, eyeing the serving boy as he made his way out of the room. "I've managed to find out some information from one of the butlers," he told Ciel, "Most of the guests here appear to be involved with some kind of plan, though he has no idea what."

Ciel was disappointed to say the least; it had been almost two hours and yet he had received next to nothing. _'Perhaps,'_ he thought, _'letting Sebastian talk to lady Tawnera won't be such a bad idea after all...'_


End file.
